JFK was fun to cover

While working for the AP out of Minneapolis, I enjoyed covering candidate Jack Kennedy during the late 1950s and then John F. Kennedy, the president of the United States, in the early 1960s whenever he would travel throughout the Midwest.

The presidential campaign was the most interesting because it tested the young Kennedy, who was wealthy and handsome. He was also a Roman Catholic and from what was considered in those days the cultural East. He was campaigning against Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey, a typical Midwest protestant, from the somewhat rural area of the country. In addition to being the youngest candidate to seek the office, the burning question was whether or not a Catholic could win the presidency at that time?

I first photographed Kennedy in 1960 while he was in Milwaukee. The Kennedy campaign was fast and vibrant. The press corps flew through the Milwaukee streets at speeds exceeding 60 MPH, and with only little three-wheel police motorcycles as escorts. We felt empowered, like the usual rules didn’t apply, as we raced through the city streets and ignored red traffic lights. During a visit to a television station, I spent some time talking with Kennedy’s wife, Jackie, in the semi-dark shadows of a hallway. An odd take-away from that encounter that I still recall was how much she perspired under her arms, leaving her sleeveless dress quite damp.

Sen. John Kennedy of Massachusetts (center, foreground) is greeted by students and state political leaders as he arrives in Minneapolis, Nov. 12, 1959 to begin a two-day tour of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Since 1956, Kennedy has criss-crossed the nation, visiting all 50 states. (AP Photo/Gene Herrick)

On another trip I went for a couple of stops to River Falls, the western part of Wisconsin. Two of the photos I took that day, one showing a little boy with his legs crossed, and the other with Kennedy on stage speaking, demonstrated how photogenic he was and how the copy seemed to write itself. I also took pictures of him while covering the National Governor’s Conference at Glacier National Park in Montana, but was then pulled off that assignment to fly to Helena for JFK’s visit to the state Democratic Party convention. Incredibly, Kentucky Governor Bert T. Combs offered for me to use his plane so I could get there quickly. I was the only passenger and the crew fixed me a bourbon and water for the trip.

Another time I covered candidate Kennedy while he was in Iowa. His plane stopped a little further out on the tarmac and the big crowd waiting for his arrival rushed to the plane for a view of their idol. I ran with them and as the crowd began filling in tighter and tighter, I had to hold my camera equipment over my head. The crowd, probably 90% women, pushed inward. I felt crushed and could barely breathe. I envied Kennedy, who stood freely on the top of the debarking ramp, where he gave a short speech.

The last time I was with Kennedy, was in Duluth, Minnesota, the week before he was assassinated. The hotel lobby was full. There was an open area above the lobby and people lined the grillwork barrier to view the president arriving. I was in the middle, ground level, to take a picture of the crowd in the foreground. The president was passing in the middle with the crowd above. I took the picture and then tried to work my way through the crowd to follow Kennedy into the speaking area. There was only one small door, which was guarded by two local policemen. All of a sudden, a hand reached in, grabbed my coat and pulled me out. It was a Secret Service agent. “Come on, Gene,” he said “if you don’t get through that door now, you will never make it!”

The following week President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. The AP had me on standby to fly to there, but in the end there were enough photographers nearby who could get to the scene sooner.

And that was just fine with me. ■

The proceeding text was a recollection by photographer Gene Herrick, a former AP staffer who covered JFK during his presidential campaign. Herrick and others are featured in AP's new book "JFK: A Daily Chronicle of the White House Years," by Les Krantz, a comprehensive look at all 1,036 days of JFK's presidency in recognition of the centennial of his birth. Below is a selection of photos highlighting President John F. Kennedy.

Reaching hands engulf President John Kennedy's right hand and coat sleeve June 13, 1963 after he addressed a meeting in Washington of the National Council of Senior Citizens. Kennedy told the council that "it's time the United States caught up" with all the nations of Western Europe and provided medical and hospital care for its elderly people. (AP Photo/Bill Allen)

President F. Kennedy presses a gold telegraph key as he speaks over the telephone to open the Seattle World's Fair in Palm Beach, Fla. on April 21, 1962. By pressing the key, the president focused an antenna at Andover, Maine and a Navy radio telescope station in Maryland on a star in the northern sky to pick up a radio signal turned loose by the star's energy 10,000 years ago. The sound was transmitted by microwave radio and cable to Seattle and set in motion various exhibits at the fair. It all happened in 20 seconds. (AP Photo)

Crowd greets Venezuela’s President Betancourt and U.S. President John F. Kennedy as they ride from airport into city of Caracas, Venezuela on Dec. 16, 1961. (AP Photo)

President Kennedy smiles as he delivers a joking remark to the 6,000 attending the $100-a-plate Democratic dinner on May 27, 1961 in Washington's National Guard Armory, to help him celebrate his 44th birthday. The event was held in advance of the actual date of May 29, at which time the President will not be in Washington. The cake in foreground weights 1½ tons and is topped by a replica of the White House. Funds raised by the dinner went to the Democratic Party campaign fund which is in the red. (AP Photo/Henry Griffin)

In this photo provided by the White House, President John F. Kennedy is shown with his daughter Caroline in Hyannis Port, Mass., Aug. 25, 1963. (AP Photo/White House/Cecil Stockton)

In this April 30, 1962 photo, President John F. Kennedy, sitting with his wife Jacqueline, looks on as poet Robert Frost, right, and Mrs. Richard J. Walsh (Pearl Buck) exchange greetings in the East Room of the White House in Washington. The first family and their guests are gathered in the East Room to hear a dramatic reading by actor Fredric March after a dinner honoring winners of the Nobel Prize. (AP Photo)

This is a partial view of the filled House of Representatives as President John F. Kennedy addresses a joint session of Congress, May 25, 1961 in Washington. Members of the diplomatic corps occupy the seats at left. At lower left, rear of Kennedy, are House Speaker Sam Rayburn and Vice President Lyndon Johnson. (AP Photo)

U.S. President John F. Kennedy arrives at Sean O'Kennedy soccer field and is greeted by school children waving Irish and American flags, during his visit to New Ross, Ireland, June 27, 1963. (AP Photo)

U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Mexican President Adolfo Lopez Mateos are showered with tons of confetti and paper, June 29, 1962, as they travel down one of Mexico City’s boulevards shortly after Kennedy’s arrival for a three-day visit. (AP Photo)

President John F. Kennedy poses at the White House with Democratic party big-wigs and entertainers who will participate in a January fundraising event for the party, Nov. 20, 1963, in Washington. From left: singer Lena Horne; Margaret Price, vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee; Broadway actress Carol Lawrence; Kennedy, and Sidney Salomon Jr. of St. Louis, chairman of the Third Inaugural Anniversary Salute. Men at far left and woman at far right are unidentified. (AP Photo/Harvey Georges)

Sen. Hubert Humphrey (D-Minn.), addresses approximately 300 students at the White House in Washington on June 22, 1962, as President John F. Kennedy listens. The students who are going to Africa under the sponsorship of Operation Crossroads Africa, met with the chief executive, Humphrey, and Dr. James Robinson, right, of New York City, in the Rose Garden. Operation Crossroads Africa is privately financed, interracial, nondenominational organization. (AP Photo/Henry Burroughs)

President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy leave St. Edward's Catholic Church in Palm Beach, Fla., after attending Easter Sunday services, April 2, 1961. At left, a policeman stands in front of part of crowd that gathered to see the president and first lady who, with a reported plot threatening them and their family, were guarded by extra secret service detail. Mrs. Kennedy is wearing a pale blue two-piece shantung silk dress and matching pillbox hat. Shoes, handbag and gloves are beige. Kennedy is wearing a navy pin-striped suit. (AP Photo)

U.S. President John F. Kennedy is surrounded by photographers, as he sits at his desk in the White House, in Washington, D.C., on October 23, 1962, shortly after signing a presidential proclamation concerning the Cuba crisis. (AP Photo)

President John F. Kennedy, speaking on national TV and radio hookup from the White House in Washington, D.C., states the nation's firm position on the Berlin situation, July 25, 1961. Hand-picked newsmen representing American and foreign interests, listen off camera at left. Front row from left to right are: Jack Sutherland, U.S. News and World Report; Mary McGrary, Washington Star; Ed Morgan, ABC. Rear from left to right are: Tom Wicker, New York Times; Anthony Goodman, Reuters; Vladimir Vashedchenko, Tass, the official Russian news agency. Far right, seated is Andrew Hatcher, White House Assistant Press Secretary. (AP Photo/Byron Rollins)

President John Kennedy points as former President Dwight Eisenhower looks out over Camp David after the two conferred on April 22, 1961 at the presidential hideaway at Thurmont, Maryland on the Cuban situation. (AP Photo)

U. S. President John F. Kennedy, right, shakes hands with Astronaut Gordon Cooper at the White House during a reception, May 21, 1963. Gordon Cooper performed the last Mercury mission and completed 22 orbits in Faith 7 to evaluate effects of one day in space, May 15–16, 1963. Others unidentified. (AP Photo)

Eager hands reach out to shake hands with President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy as they visited San Antonio, Tex., where the president dedicated the Aerospace Medical Center at Brooks Air Force Base, Nov. 21, 1963. (AP Photo/Ted Powers)